View source for Cazcan language

{{Short description|Extinct language of Mexico}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Cazcan
| nativename       = Caxcan
| states           = [[Mexico]]
| region           = 
| ethnicity        = [[Caxcan]]
| extinct          = 17th century?
| date             = 
| familycolor      = Uto-Aztecan
| fam1             = [[Uto-Aztecan languages|Uto-Aztecan]]
| fam2             = [[Corachol]]?
| iso3             = none
| linglist         = 0w2
| glotto           = none
| map              = File:ChichimecNations.png
| mapcaption       = {{legend|#67c787|Caxcan}}
}}

'''Cazcan''' or '''Caxcan''' (Kaskán), was the language of the [[Caxcan]], one of the [[Chichimeca]] peoples of Mexico. It is known only from a few word lists recorded in the 16th and 17th centuries. The language was definitely part of the [[Uto-Aztecan]] family, probably related to [[Huichol language|Huichol]] or possibly [[Southern Tepehuan]]. There appear to have been dialectal differences between the major Caxcan valleys, and it is likely that several other languages were spoken in Caxcan territory.<ref>Frank Gille, 1974. ''Encyclopedia of Indians of the Americas'', volume 2</ref>

== Lexicon ==
Among the few words attested are ''cazcan'' "there isn't any" (the response to the first Spanish demand for food), {{lang|mis|yecotl}} "quemedor", ''aguano'' "war chief".<ref>Robert Barlow & George Smisor, eds. (1943), Faustino Galicia Chimalpopoca, ''Nombre de Dios, Durango: Two Documents in Náhuatl Concerning Its Foundation: Memorial of the Indians Concerning Their Services, C. 1563; Agreement of the Mexicans and Michoacanos, 1585''</ref>

== See also ==

* [[List of extinct Uto-Aztecan languages]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Extinct languages of North America]]
[[Category:Indigenous languages of Mexico]]
[[Category:Languages attested from the 16th century]]
[[Category:Languages extinct in the 17th century]]
[[Category:Caxcan]]


{{Uto-Aztecan languages}}{{na-lang-stub}}
{{Mexico-culture-stub}}